Method of treating hats



J. F. MURPHY METHOD OF TREAI ING HATS Filed Sept. 14

Jim 22 ,192

Patented June 22, 1926.

UITE s'rares JAMES F. MURIHY, 0F DANBUBY, CONNECTICUT.

METHOD or TREATING HATS.

Application filed September This invention relates to a step in themethod of making velour hats, and has for an object to so treat thefibres at and adjacent the surface of the hat that they will be softenedand loosened up during the brushing operation, so that they are pulledout in the desired manner by the brush and lie parallel for considerablelength, and give an improved surface and a greater lustre to thefinished hat. This process softens the fibres .on and adjacent thesurface of the hat so that they are more easily disengaged from theirunion with one another by the brush, and thereby produce a longer fibreof protrusion with far less waste of fur by broken fibres.

It is also an object of the invention to produce method of treating hatswhich will give this improved surface and finish in a much less time, sothat with my method I am not only enabled to secure a much improvedfinish over the methods now generally employed, but I can finish thehatsin a much shorter time, thus greatly reducing the cost ofmanufacture.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, I have devised devices forcarrying out my improved method which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, similar reference characters being employedthroughout the various figures to indicate corresponding elements. Inthis drawing,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one form of device fortreating hats by myimproved method. 7

Fig. 2 is a detail section showing the means of feeding steam to theinterior of the-hat supporting block.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of one of the. steam funnels shown in Fig. 1.I

Fig. 3 is-a front elevation of another form of device for my improvedmethod.

Fig. his a transverse section thereof substantially on line 45-401" Fig.3.

, Fig. 5 is aviewsiinilar to Fig.'--3 showing a slightly'difierentconstruction of device,

Fig.6 is an endelevation of the device shown 1 11 Fig, 5, certain partsbeing broken away togmoreclearly show the construction,

My mproved method of treating. hats consistspnmarily in applying tothe.fibres ofthe hat, especially those on and adjacent the surfaoe tobetreated, a.sn1all amount .of

steam; which 1 softens loosens the fibres, a d brushin th he? "W i thater ie the surface of the hat.

14, 1925. Serial no. 56,262.

still softened and loosened by the action of the steam. To secure thiseffectthe steam is applied either at the same time the hat is beingbrushed, or immediately before brushing, so that the fibre is brushedbefore the effect of the steam thereon has disappeared. The effect ofthe steam on the fibres disappears very rapidly, and therefore, if thesteam is not applied during the brushing operation it should be appliedimmediately before the brushing operation so that the brushing ispractically coincident therewith;

In the devices shown on the drawing, that shown in Fig. 1 is for usewhere the brushing operation is done by hand with a hand brush,'and-inthis device the steam maybe applied to the hat, externally immediatelybefore the brushing operation or internally during the brushingoperation or both. For this purpose a suitable stand 10 carries arotatable shaft 11 driven from anysuitable source of power, such as thecrossed belt 12 and the straight belt 13 leading from any suitablecountershaft, not shown, to the idling pulleys 14 and 15 respectively onthe shaft 11, and the usual means, not shown, for shifting these beltsalternately to the fixed pulley 16 for reversing the direction ofrotation of the shaft.

At the outer end of the shaft is the block 17 for carrying the hat 18 tobe treated, this block being of such a size that the crown of the hatfits snugly overthe block and is heldthereby, the block forming abacking to support the hat during the brushing operation and, of course,the hat rotates with the block. Below the block is a steam funnel 19with a flared upper end which is preferably oblonginshape, and the openend is preferably covered witha piece of bur lapQO so that as the steamcomes through the burlap it is equally distributedjover Steam issuppliedto the-funnel from a suitable source of supply, not shown, through thepipe 21, andia- Va-11 6 22 in this pipe is controlled a foot .t-readle23. a 7 Means is also provided, for feedingsteam tothe hat throughthehat. supporting block.

Forthi's; purpose the shaft ll-is made hollow with a longitudinallyextending passage 10f, and itis internally threaded'at its outer end torec'efive'the' externally threaded nip leietl of thefbloc k, 1'] wherebythis bl k. i sea e .1 1 t s at-J1m n rple 4-1 is also internallythreaded to receive the bushing 42 which has a bearing on the steam pipe43, the pipe being turned down to give a running bearing in thisbushing. The block 17 is provided with suitable small openings 46 todistribute the steam to the hat. The pipe 43 projects outwardly from theopposite end of the shaftwhere it is connected by means of the pipe 414with the steam supply pipe l through a control valve The valve isoperated'by a treadle 4:7. It is preferred to n'iou'nttwo of theseshafts 11 in the frame 10 and in reversed relation, as shown in Fig. 1.

In the operation of this device the hat to be treated is slip )G-Cl overthe block by which it is rotated, and by pressing on the treadle 31 asmall amount of steam may be admitted to the funnel 19 which passesthrough the burlap and rises aboutthe rotating hat. The moisture andheat of the steam softens and loosens the fibres at and adjacent thesurface of the hat which is immediately brushed by'the operator byholding the Wire brush against the surface of the hat as it rotates, thesupply of steam being cut off immediately prior to thebrushing operationfor the protection of the operator, but as no handling of the hat isrequired between the application of the steam and the brushing operationthe brushing is done practically coincident with the application of thesteam, so that the brushing is donewhile the fibres are still softenedand loosened by the steam. Thus with this arrangement although theeffect of the steam on the fibres is very quickly dissipated thebrushing may be done while the fibres are still under the influence ofthe steam. If it is preferred to apply the steam to the hat during orcoincident with the brushing operation this may be done by pressing onthe treadle. 47. This will admit steam to the block 17 through the pipe4-4, and this steam will issue to the hat'through the openings 16.

It will alsobe apparent that steam may be applied both to the interiorand-exterior of the hat at sesam time. During the treatment of'the hatit must be brushed. in o posite directions. Therefore, after-the hat hasbeen treated with the steam? and brushed, shifting the belts it may berotatedrin the opposite ,direetioln'again treated with the steam and j if' while'rot ating' in this direction, f so on, that is, treated andbrushed whilerotatirig iii opposite directions s often as is founddesirable, 1 Byj placing at site d i rotating the hat in the oppositedirection so that it may be trea'ted accordingly.

In Figs. 3 to 6 I have shown a device for carrying out my method inwhich the brush is driven by power means. In this construction thecircular wire brushes 24 are mounted on a rotatable shaft 25 carried bya frame or stand 10 and operated by the belts 12 and 13 in the samemanner as the hat supporting blocks in the first form. Mounted adjacentthe periphery of the brush and extending transversely thereof is atubular support- 26 for the hat 2'7. This support is provided withlateral openin s 28, preferably directed toward the brush, the free endsof the support being closed, and the support is connected by means of apipe'29 to any su-itable so'urce' of steam not shown. The supply ofsteamto this sup? port is controlled by avalve 30 through a statue It isto" be noted that there are two brushes mounted on the shaft atth'e'opposite sides of the stand, and that the supports 26 are arranged inreversed relation so that the free end thereof is arranged at the leftside of the right hand brush, and he free end of the other support isarranged at the right hand side ofthe left hand brush, as viewed in Fig.3. In operation the hat 2? is slipped between the support and brush asshown in Fig. 4, the support holding the surface of the hat against thesurface of the brush. As the brush rotates it rotates the hat on thesupport, the speed of rotation of the hat being controlled more or lessby the operator as he holds the hat on the support. As the hat is beingbrushed the fibres are softened and loosened by the application of asmall amount of steam through the openings 28. In this form the steammay be applied during the brushing operation, and by sliding the hat inor out on the support practic'ally'the entire outer surface may bebrushed. The rotation of the brushes may be reversed to give thebrushing effect in opposite directions, orthe brushes may be rotatedcontinuously in the same direction and after it is brushed on the righthand brush it may be brushed in the'oppos'ite direction by westerns itto the" left hand brush, and as thesuppo't as this brush is reversedfrom that of thefirst brush it will be obvious the" hat will be brushediii the" opposite direction, It is preferred to enclose the brushesi'ii'a hood- 32 and eon-nectthis hood with an exhaust fan 33 so as'toremovetlie statesmen are are seisthe v T ing iiito a su e eolleti-ngboicnotshow'n, for salvaging the furor i s Figs. 5 and e is) S ea s ssensewhich s ans states-an e a that h wn. in an s xies are as re l i s"er as see hats. In this form the hat support comprises a small hollowblock 34 having a curred surface toward the brush which is provided withdischarge openings 35. Steam is supplied to this portthrough a pipe 36controlled by the valve 37, the same as in tie other form, and the pipe86 is connected to the back of the support. By this arrangemen the brimof the hat may be brushed in opposite directions without reversing thebrush by simply inserting the brim from one side of the support andbrushing it and then removing it and inserting it from the other side ofthe. support, which will brush it in the opposite direction. In thisform, as in the forms shown in F 1, 8 and 4:, the steam may be appliedduring the brushing operation.

I have found that although brushes having steel wires extending radiallyof the brush give a satisfactory result, still I prefer that the wires38 should be bent intermediate their ends so that the outer portion 39will be inclined in the direction of rotation of the brush as shown inFigs. at and 6. Thus the wires at the time of engaging the hat surface,instead of being normal to the surface, are inclined thereto at an acuteangle, and I have found that with this arrangement the wires pass morereadily through the fibres and lay them out properly with a less rearingand breaking of the fibres than when they are normal to the surface ofthe hat.

With my improved method not only do I secure a much improved surface andfinish on the hat, but I can secure this finish much more rapidly or inless time so that it is obtained-at much less cost. The application of asmall amount of steam to the fibres of the hat during the brushingoperation, or such a short time before the brushing operation that thefibres are still under the influence of the steam, softens and loosensthe fibres so that they will more easily disengage from their union withone another under the action of the brush. The brush, therefore, passesmore easily through and between the fibres laying them out in therequired parallel relation to give a longer fibre of protrusion with farless waste of fur by tearing or breaking of the fibres by the brush thanwhere they are brushed dry. \"Jhen the hat surface is brushed dry it ismerely the surface fibres which are brushed up, and the brush does notget into the fibres.

and pull them up to give the required length of free fibre as it doeswhen thesteam is applied, in the above described method. The heat andmoisture of the steam softens and loosens up the fibres so that one endis pulled out by the brush and they lie parallel for some length. Theyare then blown up by a suitable air blast and clipped to the properlength by clippers. It has been found in practice that this treatmentgives a very beautiful soft finish which has much more lustre. than issecured where the hats are brushed dry.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention what I claim is:

1. The step in the method of making a velour hat which consists inraising the nap by treating the hat body with sufficient steam to softenand loosen the fibres adjacent the surface of the hat, and brushing thesurface of the hat while the fibres are under the influence of the steamto loosen and draw out free one end of the fibres.

2. The step in the method of making a velour hat which consists inraising the nap.

by treating the hat body with sufficient steam to soften and loosen thefibres adjacent the surface of the hat, and brushing the surface of thehat simultaneously with the applicaion of the steam to loosen and drawout free one end of the fibres.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JAMES F. MURPHY.

